Family of Five

First I apologize for not filling in the details for a few days.  Honestly it has been quite alot to process.   As I said before, the biopsies from the areas around the tumor came back cancer-free.  The surgeon staged it as a high-grade aggressie tumor with no "spreading".  However, there is apparently a 29% chance the staging is incorrect.  In addition, since it IS an aggressive tumor, it is reccommended that my father have another scope so they can check and see if there is any re-growth.  He is having this done at MD Anderson in Houston early next month.

So what this means is....wait and see.  If the scope looks good....begin treatment.  If the scope does not look good....consider the best options.

My dad and stepmom will not be coming to our house for Thanksgiving this year.  My sister, brother, sister-in-law and two nephews will be....so I am hopeful that the beautiful chaos will keep thoughts of the empty chairs at bay.

I know that my dad is in great hands....he has made sure he has the very very best care available.  They are being thorough and meticulous in every possible detail. 
And....the best of all....he has the Great Physician on his side.

Thank you for your prayers....please keep them coming.  I will let you know when thins change....but until then, we wait and see.

Thank you GOD!!!! My dad's pathology results say that THE CANCER DIDN'T SPREAD! It was all in the tumor that was removed!! Still treatments to be done...but I am THRILLED with the news and even more thrilled that I am seeinga a"crack" in the wall of my dad's resistance to Him! Thank you for your prayers....thank you SO much!

I will post more details tomorrow....but right now I am going to go pass out.

Thank you Father, for your mercy.

Thank you friends, for your prayers.

My dad is doing ok. 
The tumor was next to his ureter so, since they had a lot of cutting to do, they ended up having to put a stent in they will take out in three weeks.  The surgeon said the margins looked relatively clean, but they won't know if there was any muscle involvement (meaning that the cancer had spread past the superficial level) until the pathology reports come back Friday.  He is still bleeding some so he will stay overnight at the hospital and probably come home tomorrow.
I spoke with him and he sounded....ok.
I told him that he had LITERALLY hundreds of people praying for him.....and he said......"ok."
I said I hoped he could feel some of that prayer power.....and he said....."ok".
He said several times that they wouldn't know (what was happening, what to hope for, what to fear) until Friday.
Then he confirmed that if me or my brothers/sister wanted to come it would simply "annoy him".
That's when I knew the pain medicine was doing its' job!

Thank you.
Thank you for praying.
Please.....please don't stop.
I feel the power and the peace of those prayers....and I just really want him to feel it too.
I can't thank you enough for taking time in your busy lives to pray.....
Thank you.
Thank you.

Shannon

My dad just called me.  He is having outpatient surgery tomorrow to remove a tumor the dr found on his bladder yesterday.  They believe it is a transitional bladder carcinoma.  He will receive a type of chemo (directly on his bladder) tomorrow and that will continue once a week for a while.

He goes in at 7 for an 8:30 surgery and will probably be home later in the day.

He told me not to worry, that he will be fine.  But I’m worrying.

You know my dad is not a believer.  He is finally to the point where he admits that there must be “a god”….but that’s it.  He’s come to church with me several times just to make me happy, but that is as far as it goes. 

I know I’m going to lose my dad someday on this earth….but I don’t want to lose him forever.

Will you please pray for him?  For his health, his surgery, and his faith?  That he is surrounded by people who love Christ and know how to communicate that to him?

Thank you….

What do you get when you take five "6-ish" year olds....

Subtract a two year old girl and add a 3 year old nephew...

Throw in a couple of nutty 9/10 year olds...

Multiply them by 4 large pizzas and a giant leaf pile... 

Oh....AND add a ladder near the leaf pile for jumping off of....

Then do some sort of exponential function with costumes....

 AND ice cream sundaes with extra toppings....

Then subtract many hours of sleep for everyone....

Well....did you figure it out?  Did you?

The answer is.....just a typical night at the Satterlees.

Thank God for the ordinary moments.....those are the ones that make memories.